Poem-A-Day April and Total Solar Eclipses

So, somewhat against my best judgement (that is, things can pall if they become too routine — but then one can always quit early and who else will know?) I accepted a dare to myself and “joined” NaPoWriMo, the write-a-poem-from-a-daily-prompt challenge for National Poetry Month, a.k.a. April. But the NaPo guys had to know better for April 8, at least for a broad swath of states from Texas to Maine, where there was to be a total solar eclipse.

Didn’t they?

You see, Indianapolis — and fifty or so miles south, right here in Bloomington — was smack in the center of the eclipse path. For my own case, I watched it in Dunn Meadow, an Indiana University gathering place, absorbing the wonder of the crowd — here largely composed of cheering students as total darkness approached, then (with a “diamond ring” flash with the first light’s reappearance between two lunar mountains) was re-dispelled, though I must confess with a certain jadedness myself, having observed a similar total solar eclipse in Hopkinsville, KY in 2017 (cf. August 22 2017). But even for me still a thrill, and one well worth enjoying again.

Whereas, for mere poem-writing . . . well, I’ll confess too that I first-drafted this beforehand, this morning, but as I say they still should have known better. You see, this was today’s prompt, for April 8: “a poem that centers around an encounter or relationship between two people (or things) that shouldn’t really have ever met – whether due to time, space, age, the differences in their nature, or for any other reason.”

Thus:

ECLIPSE
It was fated to fail,
this joining of sun and moon:
he was hot, she colder —
icy, in fact, when
their relationship started,
his glory hidden
while she had her way —
but only for minutes.
He came to his senses,
his brilliance intact
at their ultimate breakup,
complete,
or at least for the next few
years.